Parashat Hukkat

Tools of Justice

Our actions and our words must be in line with one another.

This commentary is provided by special arrangement with American Jewish World Service.
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In Parashat Hukkat, the people, angry about living conditions in the desert, gather against Moses and Aaron to demand water. God instructs Moses to order a rock to give forth water. The people's thirst is thereby quenched, but God punishes Moses, declaring, "You will not bring this community into the land I have given them (Numbers 20:12)."

Language & Punishment

What has Moses done to deserve such a harsh penalty?

Commentators differ in their answers, some focusing on how Moses struck the rock rather than speaking to it as directed by God. Maimonides, however, focuses on the substance of the words that Moses delivers (Numbers 20:10): "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" Maimonides is concerned that Moses' angry language will cause the Israelites to believe that God, too, is angry.

As I see it, however, the problem is less about the underlying emotion and more about Moses' use of one particular word: rebels. The word is, in fact, so strong that the location of this water-giving rock incident becomes known as Meribah--a place of rebellion. The Israelites waste no time in living up to their new name. Three chapters later, they again complain about the food and water they have been given. Moses' choice to define them according to their behavior, it seems, has only reinforced that behavior.

Individual & Communal Labels

As a teacher, I am struck by how often language can peg a student with an unshakable label. A student labeled a "troublemaker" may live up to this expectation until the day he graduates. If my task as an educator is to help young people reach their own potential, then assigning a label, be it pejorative or apparently harmless ("theater-kid"), can crimp their personal freedom to grow, transform, and express themselves.

If this limiting effect is true when labeling individuals, it is multiply true when labeling groups of people, communities, and nations. During the Cold War, non-industrialized nations without market economies were described as the "Third World." This hierarchical language placed the United States, Europe, and Australia in a privileged position over Africa, Asia, and Latin America.